Regional Health Observatory

Tobacco Control

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the pre-eminent global tobacco control instrument, containing legally binding obligations for its Parties, setting the foundation for reducing both demand for and supply of tobacco products and providing a comprehensive direction for tobacco control policy at all levels.

To assist countries to implement effective strategies for selected demand reduction related articles of the WHO FCTC, WHO introduced a package of measures under the acronym of MPOWER.

At the end of 2008, WHO surveyed all Member States on these selected demand measures for the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic. The results of the survey are presented under the heading "Policies/interventions" below. Prevalence statistics for all Member States are presented under the heading "Tobacco use" below.